Textile printing



Sept. 1959 F. B. MERCER gnu,

TEXTILE PRINTING Filed Nov. 14, 1957 United States Patent i TEXTILEPRINTING Frank Brian Mercer and Stanley Shorrock, Blackburn,

England, assignors to British Tufting Machinery Limited, Blackburn,England, a British company Application November 14, 1957, Serial No.696,451

Claims priority, application Great Britain November. 15, 1956 Claims.(Cl. 101219) The present invention relates to a method and equipinentfor printing on pile fabrics, blankets, felts, towels,

and raised fabrics and for warp printing, and has for its object toprovide means whereby such fabrics can be effectively printed down tothe bottom of the material without the printing spreading beyond thecontours of the desired pattern elements.

According to the invention, a printing solution or dye is applied to thetextile material by means of elements formed of resilient cellularmaterial, which is initially caused to soak up the solution or dye andis subjected to pressure While in contact with the material to transfersolution or the dye to the material.

The printing may be effected by a roller or rollers, having a pattern inrelief formed by elements each comprising a base of solid or resilientmaterial such as rubber, and a pad of cellular material of a suitablethickness to meter the correct amount of solution in relation to thedepth of the pile. The pads may be of any foamed or sponge,

plastic or rubber material having interconnected pores. The roller mayrotate partly immersed in dye solution, with an auxiliary roller tosqueeze the pads while immersed in the dye to remove air and allow themto soak up the solution. The auxiliary roller may be adjustable to varythe pressure on the printing roller. It may be of any accurately turnedand polished material, and its speed may be synchronised with that ofthe printing roller.

The pads on leaving the solution are fully saturated but carry excesssurface colour. This may be removed by various methods such as a scraperknife, a sponge roller in light contact, an air jet or a soft bristlebrush. Any combination of the above may be used depending on the type ofdesign to be produced.

The fabric to be printed is pressed against the revolving printingroller either by means of a roller adjustable for pressure or by meansof a vibrating pad.

For multicolour printing several synchronised rollers running inseparate dye baths may be used.

The colour may be thickened by the use of conventional thickening agentsbut the thickening must be adjusted to allow penetration of the pilewithout undue spreading of the pattern.

It is understood that the pile fabric will be under the necessarycontrol both warpways and weftways to ensure proper registration whenbeing printed.

In another method of carrying out the invention, the dye solution iscontained in a trough, the bottom of which has openings covered withgauze or the like, with pattern elements of cellular materialunderneath. The fabric may travel intermittently, pile upwards beneaththe trough, which is lowered on to the fabric while the latter isstationary and is vibrated if necessary. The dye is drawn into the padsfrom the trough and is ejected from the bottom of the pads into the pileof the fabric.

Alternatively the pattern elements may be mounted on flat blocks of woodor other suitable material and used Patented Sept. 22, 1959 ice 2 as inhand printing, the solution being soaked up from a shallow tray at theside of the printing table.

After printing the fabric may be passed through a suitable dryingmachine.

Pile fabrics may be printed with a water soluble substance such as gluesize which flattens the' pile where. it has been printed. The pile whichremains standing is then dropped off and after washing a relief effectremains.

The thickness and cellular formation. of the sponge layer may beselected in accordance with the thickness of the pile, so that therequired. volume of liquid" can be picked up, wastage and flooding beingavoided. The sponge layer serves as a reservoir and a metering devicefor the liquid.

On account of the pumping action which can be obtained, sufficient dyecan be applied to print the whole of the pile, even of a deep pilefabric, without using an excess which would cause a spreading of thedye.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically one form of apparatus for textileprinting in accordance with the invention.

Figures 2 and 3 are respectively a perspective view and a sectional viewof another form of apparatus and,

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view along the lines of Figure 1,illustrating the mode of adjustment of the auxiliary roller.

Referring to Figure 1, there is a tank 1 containing a dye solution. .Aroller 2 mounted on a shaft 3 is partly immersed in the solution. Theroller 2 carries a relief pattern formed by elements each having a base4 of material such as rubber and a pad 5 of cellular material. There arespacers 6 between the elements, and drain holes 7 passing through theshell of the roller 2. At the bottom of the tank 1 there is an auxiliaryroller 8 on a shaft 9, the roller 8 pressing against the pads 5 as theroller 2 rotates, to remove air and allow them to soak up the solution.As shown in Figure 4, the auxiliary roller 8 is adjustable relative tothe periphery of roller 2, so that pressure on the printing rollercomponents can be varied to suit the particular conditions encountered.More particularly, the ends of the shaft 9 are mounted in bearing blocks8a, which blocks are movable in vertical slideways 9a suitably supportedat each end of the tank 1. The desired movement to each block 8a can beeffected by means of a spindle 8b secured to the block, and a nut 9bthreaded onto the free or upper end of the spindle 8b. A scraper blade10 and an air jet .11 are provided above the surface of the liquid toremove excess liquid from the surfaces of the pads 5. The fabric 12 tobe printed is led, pile downwards, above the roller 2 in contact withthe pads 5, and a pressure roller 13 on a shaft 14 above the'fabric 12presses the latter against the pads 5 so that liquid is squeezed out ofthe pads 5 and absorbed by the pile of the fabric.

Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the dye solution is placed in a container15, the base of which has a hole 16 shaped to the pattern to be printed,the hole being filled with fine wire gauze 17, under which a pad 18 ofcellular material corresponding in shape to the pattern to be printedprojects below the base of the container 15.. The solution flows throughthe gauze 17 and saturates the pad 18. The container is then lowered onto the fabric to be printed and pressed down to compress the pad 18 andeject the liquid. The gauze 17 prevents a quick return flow of theliquid into the container 15 by its throttling action, and the liquidsqueezed out of the pad 18 is absorbed by the fabric. The container isthen raised and the pad 18 takes up more liquid while the fabric isbeing moved on.

What we claim is:

1. An apparatus for printing textile materials comprising a reservoirfor containing a printing solution to be applied to the material, atleast one printing roller mounted for rotation in the reservoir andbeing partly immersible in the printing solution, the printing rollerhaving a pattern in relief on its periphery, the relief pattern beingcomposed of-a'plurality of elements, each element thereof including abase carried by the printing below the level of the solution and inperipheral contact with the printing roller to squeeze the pads toremove air therefrom and allow the pads to absorb the solution. 2. Anapparatus for printing textile materials as claimed in claim 1, furtherincluding means cooperable with the pressure applying means to adjustthe position of the pressure applying means relative to the printingroller to vary the pressure on the printing roller. 3. An apparatus forprinting textile materials as claimed in claim 2, in which said pressureapplying means is an auxiliary roller mounted in the reservoir forrotary movement.

4. An apparatus for printing textile materials as claimed in claim 3, inwhich said base is a resilient component and a further roller is locatedabove the printing roller to cooperate with the printing roller to pressthe textile material against the printing roller.

5. An apparatus for printing textile materials as claimed in claim 4,further including 'means above the level of the solution in thereservoir and 'cooperable with the printing roller to remove excesssolution from the pads.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS659,535' Lankford Oct. 9', 1900 729,002 Spalckhaver n; May 26, 19031,119,820 Gillespie Dec. 8, 1914 1,908,237 Hampson May 9, 1933 2,027,820Greiser Jan. 14, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 30, 1948

